March 24, Haines Heli day

Fantastic day skiing Haines, AK with my son and SEABA.
The day dawned clear and by 8:30 we where all mustered at the airport.
4 groups of 4, each with our own guide.  Surprisingly, I'd say 75% were snowboarders and our group had the other 2 clients on boards and our guide Ted on a board.

First run was similar to Silver Star except the scale was just so much bigger. The day was intense, non-stop and some serious terrain and you had to be on your game. Runs were complex, long and involved skiing next to crevasses and avoiding cliff bands. We all had radios and guide would sometimes call out," Chris head left" as you approached a cliff band or drop -off. Definitely not for the beginner.

There was always enough space that you could get a complete run with fresh turns and not cross other's tracks and each group took turns opening up new runs. Our turn for opening was a run called Heart Shaped Couloir and after Ted skied it I got to go first, 3500 ft of velvety powder steepening into a gully. We had to cross a lateral moraine at the close of the run, very steep and he told us to ski it carefully which I did. All our group came down and we watched another group drop it. One of the skiers was obviously struggling and when he got to the moraine he straight lined it in the backseat and exploded at the bottom. Broke his leg... They had to fly him out while we all waited.

As the day progressed , the runs got steeper and bigger as the guides got more confidence in the snowpack. Last one was a beauty, steepest powder run I have ever skied and when I got onto the face my mind went " Holy shit" but I kept on making turns.

After 7 runs  the light turned flat and the pilot called it quits and we headed home.

Saw Straight Line Boy in the bar that night with his broken leg. I asked him " What were you thinking". He said he was so tired that his legs were cramping and he couldn't turn anymore so he pointed it and hoped for the best.

Glad I trained for AK by skiing bell to bell Crystal.
Intense day and wonderful experiencing this with my son ( who skied with a broken arm in a cast!!)

EPIC.

Awesome...keep 'em coming. Any video in the works?

Not a video sort of guy but I've got some scenics I'll post when I figure out how.
Really no time to take photos on the runs, skiing one at a time top to bottom .
No way were you stopping to stage a photo .... very intense ... guides and riders were not messing about...constant action.... ski, step out and stage your gear, kneel , Heli comes, get in ASAP, repeat.

Yeeeeeeee Haaaaaawwwwww!

photos

Nice work youngman

OMG...Incredible!

Holy S*-T....pictures look huge....killing it